Twists of Fate
by Dreams of Insanity
Summary: In a call of destiny, Kurosaki Karin followed her bother to Urahara's Shop and watched him become a shinigami to save Rukia. What will a sister do to save her brother as it all goes wrong? HitsuKarin, YoruHara, Ichiruki, Shiyori, Ulquihime...A what if?
1. Chapter 1

_This is a HitsuKarin fic in which Karin in not a little helpless human girl, you have been warned. (In other words she will probably[most likely] be OP.) I will try to keep them in character as much as I can, but I know I'm not good at that so this is going to be a intelligent!powerful!Karin fic._

_The start of the fic is when Ichigo goes to SS, as this is a FANfiction I've made some changes which you will probably notice, my apologies for not being super accurate about it, but i do try my best :)._

_Warnings: Language, morbid humor [slightly] and MAYBE lemon, I'm still thinking about that. (This goes for the whole fic)._

_Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach in any sense…not even the dvds._

**Chapter One**

Ichigo Kurosaki turned towards the blonde man, his right foot as close to the gate as possible without actually taking a step inside. "My family…" he said with a small hitch in his voice. "What will they think happened?" He finished, ignoring the pitying glances his companions gave him.

None of them had anything to worry about. Chad and Inoue had no family to miss them while Ishida had a father that did not care. Even if he did find him missing, he was a Quincy just as his son, Ishida had nothing to hide. But for Ichigo it was different, he had a father and two younger sisters that would miss the grumpy orange haired teen.

The mysterious store owner flashed a smile that showed no teeth towards the teen before his typical fan covered his face. "Who knows?" He pondered briefly before finishing the sentence. "I guess you better be back soon before they truly start to worry."

The glint that shined inside his grey orbs should've given away the fact that Urahara Kisuke knew something, something of great value, something that Ichigo would never dream of. A small chuckle escaped him at the thought of his reaction to the fact that his father was a shinigami ex-captain. The odd looks he received were ignored by the scientist.

Just as Ichigo opened his mouth to argue with the shifty answer that was given, the fan snapped closed with a sharp click. "Best hurry now; one never knows when the gate could close." He added as a way to prevent the boy to speak.

Ishida Uryu watched the exchange with a suspicious glance. He could tell that the store owner knew something, he always did, but his words of skepticism were brought short at the small glance of a scowling face that retreated back behind the rock at his attention.

He knew that face…Where had he seen that girl before?

He frowned in concentration, but the name escaped him. Ditching the thought to the back of his mind, he turned his attention back to the present situation seconds before the human turned shinigami ran inside the portal. Never one to be left behind he raced behind the orange haired teenager.

Behind the rock that had hid her so well stood Kurosaki Karin, a sigh of relief at not being ratted out escaped her without her consent. Karin could feel the pressure of remaining hidden weighing her down, what had possibly possessed her to follow her brothers Reiatsu to the decrepit old candy store that no one visited.

Ah, her thirst for knowledge that was what. She cursed her luck now, even if she had discovered a lot about what his brother was up to. Her usually tight control on her Reiatsu tightened even more, her fear of discovery snuffing her usually reckless side. She wasn't even sure if it was still alive after watching what recklessness had done to her brother.

Karin had always known that her brother was not the brightest bulb in the shed, but she would think that he would be smart enough not to trust a shifty man such as the blonde guy implicitly. Besides she was sure that he had something more that could've helped him in his apparent quest.

"Ichi-nii, you fool!" She muttered, or rather cursed, as she trapped a lock of black hair behind her ear.

On the other side of the underground training facility that Urahara had built, said man stood and pondered on his decisions. Was it truly right to let Ichigo risk his life for the sake of the twisted game that he and Aizen had played for over a century?

With a sigh that was echoed across the grounds, he laid his mind to rest knowing that it was mostly the boys' fault for trusting him so implicitly. Funnily enough the thought was echoed by a person a few feet away from him.

The soft, almost nonexistent, murmur of word broke his melancholy and sharpened his features; no one was supposed to be down here, he had sent Tessai and Yoruichi upstairs a few minutes ago. His eyes narrowed into slits beneath the cut up hat.

With a grace that bellied his training under Yoruichi, he made his way towards the only rock formation that had not suffered from his fight with Ichigo. Just as he landed atop the rocky surface a small rock tumbled down and slammed right beside a small head of black locks.

The frightened yelp and the slight jump to the other side indicated that the infiltrator was a girl, his grey eyes watched in disappointment as her gaze failed to travel upwards in search of a threat. If he had wanted her dead, she would be on the ground by now.

What he did not know was that the young girl beneath him had sensed him the second he had started moving her way. With a practiced motion, Karin unwound her tense shoulders and pretended not to notice the man above her. She did not need to use her eyes to 'see' where he was.

It came as a surprise to realize that even with her vehement denial that ghosts existed, or perhaps because of it, the presence that she came to know as _herself_ had been subconsciously suppressed, which gave the raven haired girl almost perfect control over her aura.

Right now she had reined it to its limit, hoping that he would not sense her ability to see ghosts. As the blonde observed her, Karin's heart raced. Her acting skill put to the test; she took a few steps towards the ladder that was directly in front of her. Trusting in her ability to sense other auras, she bid her time.

Per her calculations, the best time to make a break for it would be when the man jumped from the rock. Her logic said that if he was falling through the air, he would not be able to change his course and pursue her until he had landed which would give her a window space of five seconds to bail out of the basement and enter the shop above ground.

Closing her eyes and counting inside her mind, she smiled as she 'saw' him jump. Without a second to lose she sprinted towards the ladder, the muscles of her legs straining against the sudden effort. Urahara's grey eyes widened in surprise and disbelief as gravity took its sweet time in bringing him to the ground. Before his mind could process the fact that his feet were on the ground he was chasing after the girl, who was halfway through the stairs.

The fact that she had fooled him magnificently and managed to go through with the plan made his yellow eyebrows rise in astonishment. She was but a child! The shop owner spent a couple of seconds thinking about what he should do, let her escape or shunpo to the top and wait for her to arrive.

Choosing the second option, he took a flash step that would make his lover proud. Arriving at the top with seconds to spare he snapped his fan open and used it to cover his lower face in his trademark way. Yoruichi, seeing the commotion, made her way towards the man she loved. Sitting by his side he watched as a head of black hair popped out of the basement.

The surprise in the small face would've been funny if not for the fact that they did not know who she was. Karin could not believe what her eyes were telling her. The man she had 'sensed' was standing before her in all his hat-and-clogs glory with a black cat at his feet. The impassive yellow eyes watched her with more intelligence than a housecat should have.

Her gaze drifted from the top floor towards the barren basement, the height almost making her dizzy. She shook her head again and looked at the man who was clearly amused with her confusion. She fumed silently.

"Hello, my name is Urahara Kisuke and I'm just a normal shop owner. Who might you be?" He said as he bent at his waist in her direction.

The small girl scowled at him and lightning quick snatched the stupid, annoying fan from his hand. In less than a second the damned thing was flying through the air and downwards to the basement. He gaped at her in disbelief once more, but now there was horror in the mix too. Oddly enough, the cat seemed to be gaping too, but in shocked amusement. Karin brushed it off before growling at the man.

"It's none of you damn business." She snarled. The man leaned away from her with a small pout, she had killed his fan. He lost his hat AND his fan in the same afternoon, today was not a good day for Urahara Kisuke. Unfortunately, he did not know that it was about to get much worse.

Unable to resist, Yoruichi snorted and laughed out loud. Dark grey eyes widened in bewilderment before her grip on the ladder slipped and she tumbled down the way she had just climbed. Her last thought as she watched the two horrified faces shrink as she fell was that karma truly was a bitch.

Kurosaki Karin awoke to the sound of a whispered discussion. Her body ached all over, it was difficult to breath and her headache was the size of Ichigo's ego. In summary she was not in the mood to be conscious and the murmurs that had woken her only increased in volume. To say that Karin had little patience when annoyed would be an understatement.

"Would you shut up?" She grumbled angrily before even opening her eyes. "My head hurts more than dying did." She added, the silence that followed allowed her mind to catch up with her mind, which caused her to snap her eyes open.

The last thing she remembered was watching the faces that were above her right now, except that the sadness that she could see in their eyes now was replaced by horror as….she fell. Her dark grey eyes widened in disbelief as she watched the blonde psycho who had attacked her brother with a sword until he fought back, but the woman who stared at her with yellow eyes caught her attention.

Her dark skin contrasted beautifully with her yellow eyes and her purple hair was loose over her front, covering her nudity. The longer the young girl stared at her, the longer she seemed familiar, but it was impossible to have seen such an exotic woman and have forgotten about her. 'She's the cat…', Karin thought as her mind connected the yellow eyes.

"I'm dead..." She stated, forgetting about the woman now that she knew why she seemed familiar. "I'm dead." She repeated as her hands clutched the Chain of Fate that lay in the middle of her flat chest.

The yellow eyes narrowed in sorrow and guilt. "I'm sorry." Came the choked whisper.

Karin focused on the woman with no confusion in her eyes. "It's okay, but Ichi-nii is going to kill you when he finds out." She brushed off the apology with a weak smile on her lips.

Her attempt to lighten the mood somewhat backfired as both Shinigami exiles paled. "Oh god," Yoruichi muttered, "you are Ichigo's little sister?"

Confusion marred Karin's face as her gaze traveled between the two adults. "You didn't know?" She asked softly.

"No, we didn't." said Urahara softly, before clearing his throat. "I didn't know who you were. That was why I was following you." He added in a stronger voice as he cursed inside his mind. He had killed two Kurosaki's in one week. "He's going to kill us." He whispered with dread in his eyes.

"I don't think Ichi-nii would actually kill you even if he tried." Karin put her two cents in with a small shrug.

"I'm not talking about Ichigo." He said to himself. Karin's eyes narrowed in suspicion as she heard his words. Insert fake Urahara smile.

Letting it drop, Karin's gaze travelled to the stairs and scrunched her face in disgust. "I am NOT cleaning that up." She said in her best boys-have-cooties voice, not that she believed in that anyways. "You should make cat-lady do it, she killed me after all." Eyebrows rose in surprise at her words.

"How did you know that she was the cat, her voice is male in that form." Urahara demanded.

Karin stared at him impassively. "Her eyes."

Urahara hummed in understanding, feeling out of pace and unnerved by her easy acceptance of her death. "Are you feeling any heaviness? Any pain breathing?" He asked, almost desperately in his attempt to change the conversation.

Yoruichi was staring at the mess that had once been Kurosaki Karin with a resigned light in her eyes. With her attention on the corpse, she almost missed the answer to the very important question.

"At the beginning I did, now I feel pretty light actually. Lighter than when I was a human." She answered as she sat up and stretched her arms to chest level.

Urahara smiled in true delight for the first time in the whole night. "Then how would you like to become a shinigami? To aid your brother in his quest?" He asked, already knowing the answer.

Karin thought it over; she knew that her brother had not thought things through in his haste to leave, but she knew better than to trust this man unreservedly. Her dark eyes clouded over as she thought and Urahara turned to look at his lover.

Her yellow eyes were narrowed in suspicion at his plan. He could see that she wished to speak, but now was not the time to voice her opinions so she kept quiet.

"Do you even have to ask?" Karin finally muttered, hoping that she was not doing something reckless. She had learned her lesson on recklessness as she watched Ichigo go through with the plan this man had without questioning his motive.

No one did anything for free, and she highly doubted that Urahara would give him his shinigami powers without something in exchange. "But what is the catch?" she added before the blonde could open his mouth.

"Well…" He answered with a sly smile. "Aren't you a sharp one?"

"Why don't we move this upstairs? It seems to be a better place for this conversation." Yoruichi interrupted the upcoming comeback that was sure to come from the small Kurosaki girl.

Urahara nodded as if seeing her wisdom before standing from his crouched position beside the soul. Yoruichi followed his lead and stood as well before offering a hand for Karin to take. She stared at the dark hand before her face in curiosity before letting herself up.

"I don't need any help." She muttered angrily as she jumped over a puddle of her own blood and started climbing the stairs.

The two adult shinigami watched her with surprise once more. She was sure to be a handful.

_Okay, first of all sorry if there are mistakes in the spelling or the use of words. I have no beta and my main language is Spanish =). Second of all I'm kind of rusty so it'll take a while before my writing gets good enough to make me proud and lastly I hope you enjoy this and I'll update next week without fail._

_Happy Reading!_

_P.S. Reviews make me happy! (Anonymous are also welcomed.)_


	2. Chapter 2

_The start of the fic is when Ichigo goes to SS, as this is a FANfiction I've made some changes which you will probably notice, my apologies for not being super accurate about it, but I do try my best :)._

_Warnings: Language, morbid humor [slightly] and MAYBE lemon, I'm still thinking about that. (This goes for the whole fic)._

_Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach in any sense…not even the dvds._

**Chapter Two**

Three people sat at the round table that was often used for meetings of supernatural subjects in a deceptively small candy shop. Two of said people where Urahara Kisuke, the ex-captain of the 12th squad and the mastermind behind the Shinigami Research and Development Institute, the other was Shihonin Yoruichi, the ex-captain of the 2nd division and leader of the Omnitsukido. The last person of the group was Kurosaki Karin; a normal human 12 year-old girl, except for the fact that she's dead, has a shinigami brother and is about to become one herself that is.

The warm tea that had been served by a man that was apparently called Tessai had already cooled down to lukewarm and Karin's patience was being stretched to the limit as the owner of the shop kept the silence going.

Sensing the impending temper explosion from the girl before him, Urahara spoke up. "Now, the method that we are going to try is the same that Ichigo undertook. It is aptly called The Shattered Shaft, and it is a creation of mine."

Taking a deep breath and leaving space for interruptions, he was glad when the silence prevailed. "It is basically a three day trial, during which you will be at the bottom of a vertical hole with your hands tied behind your back, product of a kido spell."

"Why is it called the Shattered Shaft and what is kido?" Questioned the young girl.

Yoruichi smiled slightly and decided to answer her question. "The name derives from the fact that inside the hole, the corruption of the Chain is increased. When the chain is completely destroyed a hole will be left behind, which then becomes the hole that all hollows posses. Kido is one of the four abilities that being a shinigami gives, they are spells that are powered by your own Reiatsu." She explained.

Karin frowned at the explanation. "So that means that I will turn into a hollow at the end of this… 'training'." She had reasoned that Reiatsu, spirit energy, was what she had always thought of as her aura.

Urahara carried on explaining. "That is what will happen," he said with a glint in his grey eyes, "if you do not manage to unlock your shinigami powers before the time runs out." He waited for her response to his words.

The raven haired child stared at the blonde with a cold calculating light in her eyes. "I'm willing to bet there is something more to it than that." She challenged the man as the yellow eyes of the noble watched the man she loved.

Urahara smiled in triumph and a touch of pride. "Yes, there is a catch." He answered before adding. "You will not come out as a true shinigami."

The raven eyebrows rose in an unvoiced question. At receiving no response she asked, "What is that supposed to mean?"

"That means that you will leave that hole with your shinigami powers, but with the addition of hollow powers. They come with an inner hollow." He stated in a deadpan, waiting for her reaction to the words. Opposite to what they had expected, she kept silent. Her eyes darkened in thought once more as she digested his words.

"Ichigo doesn't know about this, does he?" Was the first thing out of her mouth. The guilty light inside his eyes was all the response she needed out of him as she continued. "Not that I blame you. Ichigo is rather close minded… He thinks the world is black and white, with no shades of gray. My bet is that he would attempt to crush this hollow without taking into account that it would be a part of himself."

At her words, Urahara stared. It was a very deep and well-thought idea; it made him have a glimpse of what kind of person she would be. "Glad to know it wasn't only me who thought that way." He responded. "But if I may ask, what will you do with your own hollow if you decide to proceed." He asked in curiosity.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" She said with a knowing tone. "Let's just say that it's a good thing I am not my brother." She said with a smirk on her lips, hiding her fear of hollows that always seemed to overwhelm her.

"You are going to make a great test subject." Urahara said with a shit eating grin on his face. The next thing he saw was a fist slamming into his face.

"Who are you calling a test subject?" She yelled shaking her fist in righteous anger.

"Are you sure you are the younger sibling? You are smarter AND apparently hit harder than Ichigo." Yoruichi intervened with a smirk, unable to resist making a jab at Ichigo.

Karin smiled at the praise. "Intelligence has nothing to do with age." She said with a fake pompous tone. "Besides it's not my fault my brother is practically brain dead. I shudder to think what getting cut up will do to his brain cells." She added, her eyes dancing with amusement.

Urahara smirked once more. "Then you better become one hell of a shinigami." He said, wishing he had his fan to make his trademark move.

"Don't you doubt it!" She yelled as she smiled in confidence. Yoruichi echoed her smile, and for her own sake, she wished Karin luck.

* * *

Tessai watched from his place beside Urahara as he brought the child to the training grounds, the tinkling of her Chain of Fate filling the silence. The sadness in his gaze was hidden by the glasses he wore, but it was still felt.

He walked slowly towards the man who he gave everything for. "Tencho," He grumbled, "the hole that was dug for Ichigo is still in a good state, should we place her there or have Ururu dig up a second one?"

The blonde man nodded towards the first Shattered Shaft. "Place her in the existing one and then go up to make sure the kids are still in bed and not lurking around. They were afraid enough the first time without making them watch someone their age go through with this." He added for clarification.

The big man nodded once before using the high level bakudou. "Bakudou #99: Kin!"

As the words left his mouth a long strip of dark cloth covered Karin's arms and where stapled into place by large metal pieces. Her surprised yelp was swallowed as she started falling once more. As her body hit the floor he heard the shop owner above her start talking.

"Three days you will be down there, the speed of the corruption sped up indefinitely. No human comes out of the Shattered Shaft, when you come out you will either be a shinigami, more specifically a vizard, or you will come out as a hollow." He said in a deadly tone as his eyes landed on her even through the darkness.

"Either way you will come out as an adult, the battlefield is no place for children. Expect to be treated as such." He added as she cursed and attempted to stand and face him. "Do not disappoint me." He finished with a mysterious smile before turning his back to her.

"I'll try not to!" She yelled at his back with her classic smirk.

Tessai, having watched the whole conversation turned his stare to the blonde man. "I like her." He said.

"So do I, old friend, so do I."Urahara sighed as his eyes drifted towards the fake sky.

Without another word, both men left the barren underground training basement; it was a long time before supervision over her was needed after all.

* * *

Urahara was the first to arrive at the ground level and with only the soft clacks of his wooden sandals; he made his way towards the tea room that was always being used as a meeting room. The sight that greeted him was that of the noblewoman drinking tea, her form fitted with her usual garb and her long hair tied up in a ponytail.

The man smiled to himself at the sight of the reckless woman drinking tea in a refined manner that spoke of her noble up bring. She might despise her heritage, but you can never take away the fact that blue blood runs though her veins.

As he took a seat near her, Tessai entered the room and took a seat. Seconds spent in silence as The Goddess of Flash finished her tea were broken as she slammed her tea cup into the low wooden table, the sound breaking the silence with the subtlety of a drunk man.

"Dibs on her training!" She yelled without delay. Urahara chuckled as her image from before was ruined, but he had already known she would say that.

"It seems appropriate seeing her skill in stealth, she fooled even you. I am willing to bet that she will finish your training in good time, which is good as you have to go to Soul Society and make sure Ichigo doesn't die before Karin can get there." Tessai rumbled in amusement to her words. "I suggest that Urahara be the second one to train her."

"Why? With her skills in Reiatsu control it would seem like a good road to take, she would master it quickly." Yoruichi intervened with confusion in her face.

"Because, we need to strengthen her weakness, and at the moment her Zanjutsu is an unknown, but we already know where her strength lies. We cannot send her to Soul Society without at least mediocre skills with the sword, not when it is the most common way of fighting." Said Urahara, cutting Tessai's response short.

Yoruichi hummed in agreement to their forethought, but before she could say anything else the scientist interrupted once more. "But if all goes according to plan, this training schedule will not have to be followed to the letter."

"What do you mean?" Tessai asked as his glasses flashed, an idea of what he had meant already taking seed within his mind.

"I mean that time is of the essence and if I can do something to prolong it I will." Answered the blond man in a cryptic voice.

"I assume you are speaking about that…" Tessai retorted in mild discomfort. "This is your way of asking for my aid, is it not?"

Urahara smiled. "I could never hide anything from you, old friend."

The large man hummed in amusement before nodding. "I understand your point, but surely you know that it is a taboo."

"Only in Soul Society." Smirked the shop owner.

Tessai nodded and smiled. "True… I will prepare then. Do you think you can handle her on your own?" He asked as he stood from his seat. Urahara nodded and watched him leave the room.

The yellow eyes that had searched his all night finally captured his attention. "What are you playing at, Kisuke?" She asked in a soft voice as her hand travelled to his.

The man sighed and let his shoulders drop. "Just adding another chip to my board." He responded to her silent plead. "But even I could not send a child to Aizen. I plan to contact the Vizards, for the upcoming training their hand will be needed."

The black cat nodded before standing on her knees and placing herself behind her lover, her hand running smooth circles across his tense shoulders. "Do you have them ready? The communication devices."

"Ah, yes." Urahara said as he searched his pockets for the reason he had delayed the noble. Throwing both pieces on the table, he tinkered with them for a couple of seconds before passing her the smaller one. "It will now function perfectly and will follow your transformation into cat form."

Yoruichi smiled at him and placed it inside her ear. "Now that that is settled, when am I going to go play guardian angel?"

The blonde man sighed and responded in a soft voice, "Soon, Tessai is placing a time slowing kido over the shop at the moment. He already took the children away and we will be the only ones left inside once Karin leaves the Shattered Shaft."

Her yellow eyes snapped open in surprise. "But that causes the soul to age as a human! That is why it is forbidden." She exclaimed in surprise. "How long are we going to be under it?"

The grey eyes that belonged to the shop owner suddenly looked ancient and sad. "Long enough for her to learn everything she can from us."

"So we better do our best?" She asked in a voice just as soft as his.

"So we better do our best, indeed." He answered as he turned and kissed her softly in the lips.

* * *

While the conversation that decided her immediate future was taking place, Kurosaki Karin lay in the dusty ground attempting to find a comfortable position and finding it nearly impossible. After changing position for the nth time, her patience ran out. "The least you could do after expecting me to lay here for three day is to bind my hands over my front!" She yelled out, not caring about the fact that no one was there to hear her frustration.

Having lost count of the time long ago, she settled to watch her chain eat itself slowly. "Damn this is boring. How the hell did Ichigo manage to survive this?" She mused out loud.

"He panicked." Said a young voice which did not belong to the people she had became accustomed to hearing inside this place.

"What?" She asked in suspicion of the voice, not even remembering her past question.

"You asked how Ichigo survived this and that was because he panicked. He paid little attention to the time he had left in his attempt to climb out." The voice answered seconds before a head of red hair peered over the edge.

Karin snickered at the mental image the boy had provided. "That sounds like him alright." She murmured in amusement.

The next several moments were spent in silence as she was stared at by the boy. "Why are you going through with this?" Asked the small voice. "You are only my age and you are risking you soul."

Karin stared back at the boy before sighing. "Because he is my brother, and someone has to pound some sense into him."

A smirk bloomed across both faces as the boy continued the conversation. "My name is Jinta, what is yours?"

"I'm Kurosaki Karin." She answered.

"Well Karin, I hope you survive this. I have to go now, I'm not even supposed to be inside the shop, but Tessai was doing something odd so he didn't pay attention to us." He said before standing up and leaving her to her thoughts.

"I hope I survive too…" She echoed after his departure, the seed of insecurity that had taken place inside of her mind blooming into a flower of despair.

* * *

_All will be explained in due time =). Hope you enjoyed and leave a review!_


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Her second visitor came in the late half of the second day. Not that she knew it was the second day, she had long lost her track of time and the sky above her was a perpetual blue sky. The clacking sound of wooden sandals gave him away before the green stripped hat appeared over the edge of the hole.

"You know, you being a genius and all I would think you could come up with something more original than a clear sky 24/7." She said in a dry tone as her gaze left the monotone scene to look at towards the blonde man.

The bored expression on her face making him relax, he had been expecting a yelling session. "We have been talking about what will happen once you come out of the Shattered Shaft, but before we discuss any of that I have come to explain some things to you seeing as in the rush to turn you into a shinigami we forgot to mention a few important details." He coughed into his sleeve, a small pout in his lips the only indication he had heard her last comment.

"Forgot I wasn't Ichigo, you mean?" She asked innocently, disguising the fact that she was happy to about finally getting all the answers she had longed for. There's only so much you can overhear after all…

"How much do you know about the world you just jumped head first into?" He questioned, ignoring her once again with a practiced ease, as he settled down to prepare himself for a lengthy conversation.

"Oh, just about next to nothing." She answered nonchalantly, giving Urahara the suspicion that if her hands had been free that she would've flipped her hand over her shoulder. A sliver of petty satisfaction at her inability to properly express herself wormed into his heart making him feel like a child once more.

Stifling a sigh a sigh, the scientist collected his thoughts. "The after world is not divided between heaven or hell or something in that vein of thought. In reality the spirit world is devided into two dimensions that exist separately from this Earth.

"The first one I will explain to you is called Hueco Mundo, which means hollow world in Spanish and that is just what it is." Urahara started with his best professor voice, seeing her confused glance he paused to listen to her.

"What do you mean by Hollow? Are they failed shinigami, did they go through the same thing I am?" She asked him with a conniving expression.

At Urahara's bewildered expression she blushed at her stupidity. She already knew for a fact that she wasn't going to become a shinigami; she was going to become a vizard, something that was taboo in Soul Society.

"Hollows are monsters, for lack of a better word, that have white masks over their faces. I'm sure you've had some run-ins with some of them." He said as his eyes narrowed, when they had discussed the whole inner hollow thing she had acted as if she had known what a hollow was.

Seeing his expression she decided to elaborate. "I have, that's what I thought hollows were, but if I was wrong I'd rather be rectified by you than by someone else since you are offering free information." He could almost hear the challenge in his voice that dared him to laugh, but he appreciated the fact that she could put her pride behind for information that was useful.

"Before turning into what they are, they were normal souls which were riddled by despair and rage causing them to transform into their monstrous shape. They lose their Chain of Fate and it leaves behind a hole. It is speculated that said hole is where their hearts used to be and to fill up the emptiness inside they devour other souls, often called plus souls." He continued ignoring her fearful face at the harsh facts of reality. What he did not know was that Karin actually feared that he would soon bring a flashlight out of nowhere and point it to his face while making goofy scary faces.

She shuddered at the mental image before concentrating on his words once more. "Hueco Mundo is a place of retreat for the Hollows when Shinigami get on their trail, but it is not in any way a sanctuary. Hollows eat other Hollows to become stronger, making the whole place hunting grounds.

"It is a desert which only has a few quartz trees across the surface, but beneath the sands the Menos Forest rests. There the lowest level Hollows attempt to survive and once they grow strong enough they go to the surface to look for stronger prey." He explained patiently, his grim tone giving away his black mood towards the place.

Karin, with nothing to say, kept silent. "The Hollow race is divided by three evolution stages. The first is the Gillian class, and they consist of the weaker Hollows. They look nothing like humans and their intelligence is lacking, the most used image to describe a Gillian is that of a Menos. They are giant Hollows that have black bodies and a white mask only, they have no arms, but their most regular attack is Cero. This is a kido-like technique that only Hollows use."

"You mean they resemble Ichigo?" Karin interrupted with a cocky smirk on her lips, the image of her hands on her hips and her inability to do the action brought a satisfied light to his eyes. It was becoming obvious that he was not over the death of his fan.

He chuckled softly at the comparison. "The second class is Adjuchas and even if they are smaller, their power is greater to that of the Gillian. These present more intelligence, almost to a human degree, as a direct result of that they can learn and speak our tongue. These consist of the greater majority within Hueco Mundo, but very rarely do they come to the human world. The dirty work is left for the Gillian, which also work as foot soldiers and cannon fodder to create more powerful Hollows.

"The last class are the Vasto Lords, they have human characteristics and are also extremely powerful. Not much is known about them except for the facts that I just gave you and also that there are only five in existence at the moment." He concluded before stopping for a breath. "They tend to be of a more hermit nature and are rarely seen."

"So guessing from the fact that their race is so animalistic and that they are ruled by their instincts, there is no hierarchy system apart from the power pyramid." She deducted from his whole explanation of the world of Hollows.

Urahara nodded in approval and agreement to her statement. "That is correct, or I should that that is how it would be, were it not for a specific Vasto Lord. He is the only known Vasto Lord that has ever attempted to govern their world. He thinks himself as a God, and the other Hollows in fear of his power follow him without complaints. The problem with this is that the other Vasto Lords refuse to have anything to do with him so it is not known if he is the most powerful Hollow alive." He elaborated at her words.

"So most Vasto Lords are antisocial except with the freak with the god complex?" She asked, hoping to clarify the fact.

"That's about right." Mused Urahara. She hummed to express her understanding.

"Now on the other side of the coin is Soul Society, where plus souls and Shinigami live. It is divided in two parts, the Rukongai and the Court of Pure Souls. The first is where normal souls live, those who have no Reiatsu, and it is divided into 80 districts.

"The further away from the walls of Seiretei, the harder life is in those districts. All plus souls go there once they are purified by Shinigami-"

"We have to kill normal, human souls?" She exclaimed in bewilderment at the fact, the denial to have anything to do with that at the tip of her tongue as Urahara plowed through her words.

"-Through Konzo, often called Soul Burial. This is performed by touching the hilt of your Zanpakutou to their foreheads." His sharp gaze caught the embarrassed blush from her assumption all the way from his position at the edge of the hole.

"The souls that were eaten and therefore reside within Hollows are freed and go to Soul Society once the original soul is cut by a Zanpakutou blade which is why Quincies were exterminated, because they arrows would completely destroy the souls within the Hollow.

"Now the Court of Pure Souls is a place where Shinigami live along with the Four Noble Houses and the government council that rule and place the laws of this dimension in the stead of the King. This is called Central 46.

"Soul Society is ruled by a king, but as I said before he commonly leaves the running of Soul Society to the Central 46 Chambers and Nobles. He lives with his family in the Royal Palace in a separate dimension in the very core of Soul Society, which is protected by the Royal Guard. The dimension can only be opened with a tri-pronged golden key fittingly named the Royal Key." At the mention of the key Karin could clearly see the contempt in his face for some reason, but before she could investigate further, he had started talking again.

"The military within Soul Society consists of trained Shinigami and it goes by the name of Gotei 13. It is split into 13 squads, as the name suggests, and each squad is lead by a captain and a lieutenant. Their rank is hard earned as they are the strongest warriors amongst the Shinigami.

"To become a Lieutenant you need to have your first sword release, called Shikai, as well as considerable knowledge of Kido, Hoho and Hakuda. The second is known as the ability to move at a greater speed and the last one is hand-to-hand combat.

"To become a Captain you need to have both sword releases, the second one is called Bankai which is a Captain's ultimate weapon, but they also need to be well versed in Kido, Hoho and Hakuda. Each squad has a specialty, but the most notable are those of Squads 2, 4, 9, 11 and 12th.

"The second squad is known for being an extension of the Omnitsukido, which in turn specializes in stealth, information gathering and assassinations. The fourth squad is the contrary to the second squad. This one specializes in healing and supplying shinigami with the necessary things for survival. The ninth squad is related to the newspapers and information spreading faction.

"The eleventh squad is specialized in warfare and fighting. Their love for fights is what often has them at the front of the battle lines and their hate for kido limits their abilities to Zanjutsu only. Any kido-type Zanpakutou wielder is not welcome in their squad. The last one, the twelfth, is specialized in science and laboratory intelligence. The Technological Development Department is also under the command of the twelfth squad Captain." He paused with a nostalgic look in his eyes.

"Let me guess, you were once the captain of squad 12." Karin deadpanned as she connected the dots. Urahara snapped from his thoughts and stared at her, his mind attempting to see how she had arrived at the right conclusion. His eyes narrowed at finding nothing.

"It was the fondness in your voice as you spoke of the squad. The fact that you seem to fit the crazy scientist criteria perfectly also helped me figure it out." Karin declared smugly at seeing his frustrated expression. "And I saw your sword change shape when you were fighting my brother, which means that you have at least one sword release if I am correct."

"You really are observant." Urahara said blankly. "So you reasoned that I used to be a Captain just because you saw my Shikai and because of my personality. Impressive." He added as he contemplated her connection.

Karin smirked in her trademark fashion. "I like to think that I take after my mother."

"Why not your father?" He asked in genuine curiosity to her statement.

"Because Ichigo takes after him." She deadpanned with a straight face.

And that was all that needed to be said as Urahara hid a smile at the low esteem that she had for the ex-captain of the tenth. "To continue with the subject, as your time is running short." He cleared his throat.

True to his words when she glanced down at her Chain, she whistled in surprise. "You do a great job at distracting me." She accused as her eyes narrowed, her fear hidden within the reproachful expression. "Even with their great power, Captains are not the top of the military. In reality there is another post, that of Captain Commander and it belongs to the most powerful Shinigami in all three planes of existence. It is currently being lead by Yamamoto Genryuusai Shigekuni. He has been on the post for 2000 years and he created the Shinigami Academy.

"He also wields the strongest fire-type weapon in existence and even with his extensive scars; he has never been defeated since he gained the post. Now to explain the Shinigami Academy, better known as the Spiritual Arts Academy, you must have in mind the fact that the Rukongai is the place of origin from most Shinigami. Some of them do come from the noble houses, but they being so few in comparison leaves them at a disadvantage.

"Those who prove to have high enough Reiatsu to become a shinigami are tested by a set of professors who determine if they should be welcome within the walls of Seiretei. Once chosen the students are taken into the Academy, where they will live for the 8 years of education that are required. There they will learn the main combat skills that are necessary for a shinigami to have, those are: Zanjutsu, Hakuda, Hoho and Kido.

"Learn all of these and you will qualify as a rounded Shinigami. I will teach you Zanjutsu and Yoruichi will teach you Hakuda and Hoho." He finished with a sigh as he stood from his place at the edge of the hole.

"But how will I learn all of this in the short time that I have? I have to help Ichi-nii, but how is that going to be a possibility when I have to be there sometime this YEAR!" She exclaimed in frustration at his indifferent expression.

"That, I'm afraid, will have to wait for another time. If you get out of that hole that is, but for now your time has run out." He replied to her words as his hand gripped the cane that had rested at his side. Tessai appeared next to the fair-haired man with a severe expression.

At his words, her gaze travelled towards her Chain of Fate, but the sense of his words did not reach her when she could still clearly see five links left. A frown marred her face, outlining her relation to Ichigo, and she opened her mouth to contradict the scientist in the green and white garb.

The pain came so suddenly that she didn't even have time to breath; a small gasp of pain was all the sign the two shinigami had before the Chain's corruption kicked in and brought her to her knees. Her pain filled eyes stared at them as they watched the little mouths on the links devour themselves in a matter of seconds.

The control she had pain strikingly kept on her Reiatsu over the years shattered as the last link fell away and everything was silent for a few seconds, like the calm before the storm, before the explosion of Reiatsu slammed into both captain level Shinigami like an anvil over their heads.

Urahara actually felt his breath fade away at the unexpected strength that demonstrated her high skills in Reiatsu suppression. After the scorching spiritual energy surged past him he felt a second wave of cool Reiatsu flash past him.

"She's almost as powerful as Ichigo and she hasn't even had any of his experiences." Tessai mumbled in astonishment. Urahara felt the same detached disbelief as his friend before the Reiatsu settled into the environment. The yells of anguish that had replaced the silence made their eyes lower to her writhing form at the bottom of the Shattered Shaft.

The white mass that belonged to a Hollow mask had already started to spread across her body. The mask that gazed up at them in a scream of agony had only one horn on the right side that extended horizontally and finished with a sharp point, the left side of the mask was pure white with almost unnoticeable silver tracings while the right side had golden flame-like markings with black feathers falling amongst the blaze.

The hollow material spread from the mask and fell over her shoulders, beginning to turn into body armor. Urahara watched this in fear, hoping that as her brother, she would make it out in one piece. As the scream turned into a screech, he unsheathed his sword in regret.

* * *

_Chapter three :3 there you go, just because I'm in a good mood. Thanks for all the review! :) _


	4. Chapter 4

_Here you go, just cuz the last chapter was pretty damn boring. I expect awesome reviews, so read and be pleased! (hopefully.) :3_

**Chapter 4**

The pain had faded when consciousness found Karin, but as she opened her eyes she had to rethink the idea that she was awake since she was very clearly still dreaming. There was no place as nice, as beautiful as the one she currently found herself in. As she settled the fact that she was indeed dreaming, she blinked slowly and focused on the world before her.

Directly in front of her was a vast cloud of mist that should've fooled her eyes and as she looked down to herself she realized she was standing on nothing, the fact that she was wearing Shinigami robes rang a bell within her mind, but she ignored the warning as she lifted her gaze and concentrated in the worlds that were divided by the mist.

To her right was a world of flames, an inferno of gold, yellow, orange and red that seemed to dance with themselves. Falling from the sky, like ash after a firestorm, were black feathers that colored the floor onyx. The heat that emitted from her right should've burned her, but the heat only caressed her softly and brought her comfort.

But from her left a cool chill emanated that soothed her soul. Glancing towards the left side after finishing her inspection of the right, her eyes found a paradise beneath the sea. The floor consisted of sand as it normally would, but sea shells littered the ground as well. Some of them were colored in pinks and red, but most of them were a white color that bordered on silver.

A school of fish swam across the expanse of empty water their shining blue color lighting up as they passed through a small ray of light that gave the underwater world a warmth that could not be felt, but what called her attention the most were the silver currents of water that danced within the dark blue liquid.

Before she was finished examining the blue world, a presence called her attention. She waited for a couple of seconds, but by then the feeling was gone. Feeling uneasy, she attempted to decide which world to enter, but try as she might she could not decide where to go to first.

In her moment of hesitance the cloud directly in front of her parted to reveal a white version of herself. The only thing that was not white in her body were her eyes. The black sclera circled around a right silver eye and a right golden eye. Both females stared at each other for a few seconds before the moment was broken as the Hollow lunged at her.

With a clumsy step, she evaded the punch that had been directed to her midsection. Fear that she had not expected to feel made her freeze in a vital second during which she should've moved away from the being. That instant of inaction cost her as a foot slammed into her side.

She gasped in pain as she felt a rib crack, blood colored her lips red as Karin attempted to regain her breath. Unprepared for the continued assault the girl was pushed back, her arms taking most of the damage as she desperately tried to protect her body.

After a few more seconds of abuse the Hollow laughed. "You are pathetic, you know that? You're just a pathetic little girl."

Changing her stance, her eyes hardened at the words. The attack, no longer moving the raven haired copy back, stopped as the Hollow jumped a distance away from her.

"I thought you were supposed to come out later on." Karin accused with narrowed eyes that had darkened in anger.

The Hollow crackled in an insane manner before pointing a finger towards her. "I was, but you didn't try to suppress my creation even when you knew I was going to appear. You see, when you are unconscious about the hollow that will appear within you, you Zanpakutou would've fought me inside your mind until you made your way in here and decided to battle me yourself." She said with a smirk, her double voice sending shivers down Karin's back.

"Oh?" Karin replied in an impassive voice. "So what drives you to fight me? What is the instinct you represent?" She asked of her no permanent companion.

The Hollow broke into laughter, loud and overconfident. "There is only one instinct we inner hollows represent and that is survival." She exclaimed, the smirk never leaving her lips. "And what do I want? Simple, YOUR BODY!" Yelled the Hollow as the smirk disappeared.

A few seconds passed after the exclamation before the Hollow lunged towards the Shinigami once more. This time Karin was prepared, with a side step that threw the Hollow of balance Karin yelled. "Stop it!"

Surprisingly, the fist that had been about to slam into her face stopped in midair. "How about I make you a deal?" She asked in a deadly serious tone. "I have no wish to fight a part of myself." Karin added as her dark grey eyes watched the surprised expression that flashed through the hollows pale face.

The fist retracted as the copy stood from her crouched position and stared impassively into the eyes of the human with her arms crossed. "I'm listening." She said skeptically, her bi-colored eyes narrowed. Her whole composure screamed tenseness and her expectance of an attack.

Karin, seeing this, made her body relax before she started. "How about we share my body?" She said hoping with all of her might that she wasn't making a mistake. At seeing the disbelieving expression on the hollow, she decided to elaborate. "During the important battles, that is. I see no sense for us to share in daily life."

The silence that accompanied those words was thick and filled with emotions. "I'm not talking about you taking control or anything, but sharing I am not foolish enough to disregard the fact that you are a strength to me for reasons that are obvious. You are the embodiment of my instincts and they are a valuable asset during a battle." Karin elaborated, feeling nervous about not having a response.

"So what you are saying is that you need me?" The hollow gloated with a smirk.

Karin flushed angrily at the blunt statement. "Just as much as you need me." She replied petulantly.

"If I agree, does that mean that I never get to kick your ass in here?" said the Hollow, completely ignoring the frustration that she had caused the human.

Karin couldn't help but to snort in amusement at the pout that covered the Hollows lips. "Of course not, we will still fight, just not to the death."

The Hollow smirked before uncrossing her arm. "Then that sounds awesome to me." She said cockily. "But don't forget, I am still a Hollow. As soon as you fall, know for a fact that I will be there to grind your skull to dust before taking control over this meat bag." She added with a dark humor that didn't make Karin laugh.

"I know." Karin stated, knowing for a fact that her words were true. "It's a deal then?" She asked, receiving a nod in answer. "Good. What is your name by the way?" She asked in curiosity. "I can't continue calling you Hollow, can I?" She added as she saw the surprised look over the pasty pale face.

The Hollow blinked once before crackling madly. "I have no name, but she does." She said before pointing towards the water world.

Karin's eyes followed the path her finger was making and suppressed a gasp at what her eyes saw. She couldn't help but to stare at the beautiful woman who was swimming within the silver currents, her blue skin shimmered as she passed under the shafts of light and her green hair fanned out like a halo as small seashells tinkled from between small braids.

The silver pupils that shined from the chiseled face were narrowed in her direction and the beauty of the woman was not diminished by the fact that she had no legs, instead she had a fishtail that was covered in green and blue scales.

Karin tore her eyes away from the beauty and turned towards her Hollow. "She's a siren!" Exclaimed the shell shocked human.

"Really? I hadn't noticed." Drawled the Hollow dryly, her use of sarcasm earning her a glare from the colored copy. "Now hurry up before there is no deal to keep and you turn into a Hollow." She said before turning her back on her and weaving her way into the mist.

"Right." She said dreamily as she watched her go before the words penetrated the haze that was inside her mind. "Right!" She yelped as the place she had realized was her inner world started to crumble. Without a second to think about what she was doing, Karin dove into the sphere of water.

As she entered the ocean, her soul sang in approval and the coolness soothed her fear of a mistake. Her trance was broken by a melodious voice. "To speak and deal with the Hollow before your own Zanpakutou, how shameful. I will never hear the end of it from him." Sang the siren, her voice mellow yet a hidden threat secreted beneath the pleasantness.

The words made her blush in embarrassment. "Sorry." Muttered the intimidated human. "I need to know what I need to do to become a Shinigami." She added with a clearing of the throat, ditching the intimidation she had felt.

The silver orbs narrowed in further disdain. "Why should I when you would obviously prefer to become a hollow." She said in a resented tone, her long fingers playing with one of the long strands of hair. Her tail was moving her from current to current gently and with practiced ease.

The world gave a violent lurch which caused all emotion to vacate her face. "Because if I do, you will disappear seeing as you're are my Zanpakutou spirit." She deadpanned.

That statement made the siren stop, as mall pout rounding her lips. "No matter, I am not one to keep grudges." She answered loftily to her words. I represent you stealth, your grace and your will to adapt, now hear my name child and do not make me repeat myself."

A satisfied smile stretched languidly across her mouth at hearing the word. "Now search for that which calls to you, that which sings to your soul. If you are too deaf to hear it, then you don't deserve it." The siren sang before swimming away into the dark recesses of the ocean.

Karin scoffed in annoyance as her face lowered into a frown. That was utterly useless, but still her eyes scanned the world of blue. The dark grey orbs lowered towards the bottom of the sea, the sand immobile and the seashells still as pink as before.

The world gave another shake, but this time it didn't stop. In a desperate motion she turned in a whole circle, looking for something that could give her a clue when her eyes landed on the small reef of corals. They were colored in a thousand different shades, but the only one who caught her eye was a thin one that was almost hidden between the whites and pinks.

The vivid red color called to her, and with great effort she swam as fast as she could towards the coral. The world around her had already started to fade, but just as she thought she wouldn't make it her hand circled the coral.

Yet, as her hand closed over the material, it wasn't a coral anymore. With that last realization, darkness encompassed her view.

* * *

When Karin opened her eyes, the sight that greeted her was that of the tip of a Zanpakutou. The inch that was between her face and the Zanpakutou was filled with a hard, polished surface that the voice of her Hollow clarified was their Hollow mask.

Her peripheral view of the room informed her she was back in the underground training basement that belonged to the blonde that had his sword pointed at her. Said man broke the frozen silence with a sharp whistle as he lowered his blade.

"Talk about perfect timing." He said with a relieved smile. Her eyes narrowed at him as her mask shattered, the particles that conformed it being absorbed back into her body. Her dark grey eyes drifted towards her left hand without a word.

In her hand, the same hand which had clutched the red coral was a small blade that had a blue hilt and was crisscrossed by a green sash that stretched past the end of the hilt, leaving two ribbons billowing in the nonexistent breeze. The sheath was a beautiful chrome color that adapted to the colors that circled it.

The fact that the sword was in her left hand troubled her, she was not left handed, and as her foggy mind connected the facts, she realized that another sword was missing. The right handed world that had been locked to her came to mind and with a small effort Karin called the attention of her Zanpakutou.

"Why can't I call upon the fire world?" She asked with a hitch in her voice.

Karin could feel sadness and loneliness emit from the blade in her hand. "Because he cannot come to you, he is trapped." She sang mournfully before Karin felt her energy sap.

The raven haired girl felt the world tilt on its axis before the ground rushed up to meet her.

* * *

Currently, the Zanpakutou that had been materialized was being inspected by Urahara. Twisting it within his grasp as his sharp eyes inspected every crook and cranny, he ignored the cold anger that resonated from the blade at the treatment. In the same room, Karin twitched at the anger that rampaged through her mind.

Yoruichi could feel the disguised killing intent emitted by the blade from across the room next to the resting place of her owner. The shortness of the blade had taken both by surprise, they who had been expecting a giant Zanpakutou similar to Ichigo's, even if all the signs pointed the other way.

"It's right up your alley." Urahara muttered what both were thinking. "It's perfect for the second squad."

"It will be fun to train her, the last time I trained someone with her skills was Soi Fon and that didn't go overly well." Whispered the Shihonin.

His lover smiled at her. "Yeah, hopefully this one won't hate me as much." He mumbled, but her sharp cat ears caught his words. She laughed softly, in hopes of not waking the resting Karin. Her peaceful face looking angelic in the lone beam of moonlight that entered the room.

"Do you think she will be angry when she finds out?" She asked vaguely as both watched her. "She seems like the type to hate secrets." She added when she sensed that he wasn't going to answer and get himself in trouble by confessing to something else.

"About Isshin being a Shinigami or about the fact that we are trapped in a time-kido barrier?" He asked with a bit of melancholy in his words.

Yoruichi shrugged. "Either, both."

"I think she will be beyond angry at the first. She might not show it, but it pains her to have left her family. She thinks they think that she's gone forever and once she knows that Isshin kept quiet about the possibility of seeing their mother again she will stop at nothing to make him feel pain." He answered with a frown on his face.

"That's pretty deep." The she-cat said as she watched her husband's eyes fill with worry that he hid well. "Since when do you understand her so well?" She inquired with a small frown marring her own features.

"It's written all over her face as she sleeps." He replied as his grey orbs softened over her prone form. "So much hurt in such a small body, it seems impossible for her not to break at the seams, but somehow she prevails." He continued his tirade.

"No, she doesn't." Yoruichi interrupted heatedly. "She excels."

Urahara stared at her impassively for a few seconds before breaking the odd mood that had settled over them with a soft chuckle.

"Indeed, she does." He muttered softly before standing up to attend to their guests.

* * *

_Another chapter! Yay me for updating every two day... yeah. Thanks for the reviews and hopefully this chapter met you expectations :). The fun stuff starts now, muahahaha. If you need me to clarify anything just write a review and I'll answer at the top of the next chapter!_


	5. Chapter 5

_I have up to six chapters already written, from now on the speed of my updates depends on how many reviews I get :3. For those who have reviewed regularly, thank you and you are all very awesome. I have already written a HitsuKarin scene that is oh so fluffy and cute that involves nakedness *wiggles eyebrows* , it's like 3 chapters away :)._

_Please enjoy!_

**Chapter Five.**

Karin's dreams were nothing peaceful and for once it had nothing to do with the pair that seemed to enjoy waking her ever since she had died. Her mind was filled with broken images, like a mirage of terror all the anger and all the pain of betrayal haunted her as she came to the realization that what Urahara had done to her was humane in comparison.

The masks that spilled forth and turned them into monsters troubled her as she acknowledged the fact that it was a miracle that her Hollow had been open to the suggestion of peace, but the white masks were not what had her sweating cold in silent terror. The mask of flesh and bone, the cold brown eyes and the deceptively friendly face that smirked at their misfortune was what made her tremble.

With a violent start, she woke up panting. Her onyx eyes were wild and wide with panic; choking on her own breath, she realized she was hyperventilating. Her eyes travelled across the room in search of the terrifying image she had just woken from, but everything was getting fuzzy and she could not get enough oxygen.

A sharp resounding noise was all she heard before her head twisted to the side. The stinging pain leveled her breathing and her panic was replaced by tears that she denied. In front of her was Yoruichi, her hand outstretched, palm open. She had slapped her.

Karin felt like she should be angry at the action, that she should've yelled at her for doing it, but focusing on the dark face she noticed the worry inside her yellow eyes as her hand changed its angle and started rubbing soothing circles over her arm.

"Are you okay now?" Asked the olive skinned female, in a gentle voice.

Karin nodded, too weak to speak just yet. She cleared her throat and pulled her arm sharply from her grasp. "I'm okay now. I'm not a breakable china doll." She said in a strong voice that hid the pain beneath the tone. "I'm not weak or scared, either." She added, confusing the glint of emotions inside the yellow eyes for pity.

Yoruichi frowned at the hardness of the response, even as the dark eyes were filling with tears that she refused to spill. "But you are human; it's alright to feel emotions. It doesn't make you weak, it makes you stronger, it's what makes you human." She answered softly.

At her words Karin realized with a start that the tears she had not spilled since her mother's death were running down her cheeks. With that comprehension her will to remain strong shattered and she grabbed onto Yoruichi as the woman returned the embrace with the gentleness befitting of her mother. This fact made her cry harder.

Stroking her hair, rocking slightly and murmuring soft nothings, Yoruichi listened to the words that spilled from the girl in her moment of weakness. She spoke of her decision to remain strong, to become a pillar of stability after their mother died for all the family. She spoke of the though persona that she had built to hide her emotions from the world. She spoke of the pain from the fact that she never grieved her mother and of missing the woman, but mostly she spoke about the dream that had spilled the pent up emotions.

Through it all, the noble struggled with her own tears, tears that she would never show anyone. She herself knew what it felt like to bottle up emotions, but not to Karin's degree. As she listened to the scene described by the young girl, she realized that like Ichigo (who could feel a person's heart through their blades.) she could analyze Reiatsu.

Dread filled the purple-haired woman at the familiar setting she was narrating. It was the night of the Vizards. The description of the captain of the fifth was the last straw; she could not keep her in the dark. Not after seeing her in her current state, she was not Ichigo.

"But worst of all was his Reiatsu. It felt so…tainted, so tainting." Finished the small girl as the fists that had clutched the woman's shirt trembled, her words muffled because of her position with her face hidden in the crook of her neck.

The silence that rang though the room was heavy with emotion. Yoruichi's hands never stopped caressing the black locks as she spoke softly. "It was not a dream Karin." She said, shattering the moment. "What you saw was a fragment of the past, the reason for which Kisuke and I can't return home." She finished before untangling herself from the younger female.

"B-but…" Karin stuttered. "But Urahara would never do that!"

The yellow eyes softened in appreciation to her words. "I know that and you know that, it is all that matters. The Central 46 believed him guilty of the charges and sentenced him, as well as all the Vizards, to death." She offered the information freely. "He didn't even get to say a word in his defense, people do not know what Aizen did, what he is still doing. The real reason we sent Ichigo to help save Rukia was to retrieve an object that had been placed within her soul."

"With the Hougyoku, he would be invincible. We need to bring it back safely and destroy it before he can get his hands on it." She finished, the horror of their predicament finally penetrating Karin's mind. She finally understood what payment Urahara had received by helping her brother, even if he didn't know.

"Now we live here and the Vizards live in seclusion, if Soul Society were to find them they would surely order an execution, even if they were all once Captains and Lieutenants in their army." Her voice continued in a tone as sharp with disdain as the blade of her Zanpakutou.

Karin was speechless in horror. "This all happened over a hundred years ago." The noble said smiling through the grim moment. "But don't ask me what my age is, it is never wise to ask a woman her age." She joked attempting to lift the mood.

A small laugh escaped Karin's lips, but it was a weak laugh. "I'm guessing we age a lot slower than normal humans." She asked in curiosity, the olive skinned woman nodded in response.

"But right now we are within a Kido barrier that will slow real time. Meaning we are going to be inside of it for two weeks, but to us it will be three years." Yoruichi said not willing to keep any secrets from the raven haired girl.

"Seriously? That is awesome! This way I can train until I'm really ready." She said with a happy smile on her face.

"That is not all." Yoruichi interrupted before the girl could continue. "Your body will age as a normal human within this barrier." At the confused expression on Karin's face, the woman decided to elaborate. "Normally, this kido is prohibited by the Court of Pure Souls, but seeing as we are exiled anyways we don't care. It is forbidden because only Shinigami with high level of Reiatsu can survive it."

"To normal Shinigami, it means certain death while to Shinigami with high spiritual energy it will only age you faster." She supplied to negate any confusion.

Karin hummed in understanding, not in the least annoyed by the turn of events. "There is a price to pay for everything after all, this should be no different." She said in an understanding tone, but her eyes were still clouded with a small hint of bewilderment. "Why are you doing this? Why would you purposefully age your body just to train me?"

"Because we need to train you and you deserve this." Replied the ex-captain. "And it's not only me you know, Urahara is here too." She added laughing at the sour face that stared back at her words. "There are more people here too." She said, turning the atmosphere serious once more.

"Who else is here?" She asked in a small voice.

"The Vizards." Replied the noble shortly.

Contrary to the reaction the woman had been expecting, the child smiled at her. "Seriously?" She exclaimed. "I know you had hinted to the fact that they had lived, but it is such a relief to know they did survived that night."

Yoruichi smiled at the light that entered her eyes, the shine that had been missing from her grey orbs since she had woken from her troubled slumber. "Yes, they are also here to help you with your training." She added with a smirk.

She crossed her arms and smirked at the thought of the intensive training that Karin was to receive. "Judging from the fact that you are a Kurosaki, we are counting on your power to be explosive as well as your evolvement in all of the arts we are to teach you, but since you are not Ichigo whose only real skill lies in Zanjutsu, we are going to train you to your bones in all four subjects. Be prepared." She said with an amused smirk over her lips.

"You are learning from the best, so we expect you to be the best. I have faith that you will not disappoint." The woman finished with her grin still in place.

Karin smiled and stood, her composure securely settled back in place. "Then we better start." She smirked back to the purple-haired woman with her shoulders squared.

Yoruichi's smirk softened into a smile, inwardly she was glad that the rude behavior she had been treated with by her had stopped. She followed her lead and got on her feet, together they both left the small room and made their way to the tea room/meeting room where all the other Reiatsus within the building were.

* * *

'He's still touching me.' Whispered the perturbed voice from the recesses of her mind, Karin laughed softly at the misfortune of her Zanpakutou. The amusement did not mean that she would let him go free, he had no right to take her sword.

The sight that greeted her was that of four people sitting around the tiny tea table, all of them familiar to her, but the raven haired girl only knew one of them. Urahara was sitting in his regular spot as he stared towards the doorway she had just come in.

As he opened his mouth to speak, a fist slammed into his nose, interrupting whatever words he had been about to utter. With wide bewildered eyes he clutched his nose as blood seeped between the cracks of his fingers.

The silence was broken as a small foot slammed onto the table, with her fist shaking in his direction, Karin glared. "Who told you that you had permission to touch her you perverted old man!" The fire that burned within her eyes making his own eyes to drift towards his lovers, hoping to find an ally in his predicament.

"Now hand her over!" She snarled with an outstretched hand. Urahara smiled goofily as he focused on the pissed off girl in front of him. Reaching behind his back meekly, he handed the small sword over to her. Karin huffed as she snatched her Zanpakutou from his blood covered palm.

Seconds later a sandal flew over Karin's shoulder and slapped the blonde's face, leaving a violently red mark. "What are you smiling about?" Yelled the blonde girl that was wearing a red tracksuit and had her hair tied in two ponytails. Urahara kept on smiling goofily and gave up on the notion that Yoruichi would help him when she took a seat next to a lime green haired teen.

A giant pink haired man placed a hand over the thin shoulder of the blonde and attempted to calm her temper as the neon haired teen who sat next to Yoruichi giggled into her hand. Watching the spectacle, Karin's eyes drifted towards the blonde girl.

"Nice throw." She stated as the other girl watched her from her peripheral vision.

"Nice punch." Replied the other girl in a nonchalant tone before breaking into a smirk, Karin returned the smirk as her arms crossed over her nonexistent chest.

"I think we will get along great." She said before taking a seat.

Urahara gulped in real dread and watched fearfully as the alliance was struck. He wondered what the hell he had been thinking by bringing these two together in the first place, he also wondered if it was too late to regret his choice of training companion.

Taking a look at the two girls who now sat next to each other, he realized that his fate was sealed. Yoruichi smiled into her tea, Urahara knew better than to ask for her assistance. He was doomed.

* * *

It took several moments for the meeting to start, but when it did the humorous aura of the previous conversation had shattered and been replaced by a seriousness that weighted on Karin's shoulders.

"We are here for one reason, and that is to train Kurosaki Karin." Yoruichi started as Urahara failed to speak because he was sulking in resentment. Karin turned from her inspection of her sword to listen to the woman who had gained her respect in such a short time.

Taking the hint, Urahara corrected his stance and cleared his face of emotion. "We are currently behind a time-slowing kido barrier as you know; said barrier will be stable during a time of two weeks. This means we will be here for three years, it means that we will physically age three years. During these three years we will be teaching Karin the four combat arts. We will perfect and enhance her abilities until our time runs out.

Having the attention of the room, the scientist continued. "There will be two teachers for each subject, except for Kido. Said subject will be taught by Ushoda Hachigen." He said pointing with his eyes towards the pink haired man.

Said man gave a grave nod, allowing Urahara to continue. "Saguraki Hiyori and I will teach you how to communicate and learn the name of your sword. We will also teach you Zanjutsu."

"I already know the name of my sword." She chimed in as soon as there was an opportunity. The shocked faces that stared at her at her declaration made her feel smug. The siren smiled cockily; proud that her owner was so advanced in something that should've not happened anytime soon.

The stunned silence was broken by Yoruichi. "That's amazing, not even Ichigo managed to get the name of his blade until he had battled Hollows for over two months." She mused in amazement.

Karin shrugged in faked indifference, she was proud of it after all. The faces around her smiled in relief at that fact that she would be able to learn all they had to teach in the time space they had. It would be no problem at all to get her to captain level over the course of three years.

Urahara cleared his throat before starting once more. "Shihonin Yoruichi and Kuna Mashiro will be your Hakuda and Hoho instructors. After you have mastered all your shinigami arts, you will be taught how to use and maintain your Hollow mask. All three of them are-"

"Vizards. I know." Karin said as she watched them. The three from the masked army stared back with different expressions, the blonde with her typical snarl, the pink haired man with a contemplating look and the teen with a sweet smile. "I dreamt of them."

Taken aback by her words the three Vizards and Urahara stared at her in surprise. "She knows what happened to us all and she knows about Aizen." Yoruichi declared in a level voice. Urahara's eyes snapped towards hers, at seeing no emotion he sighed.

"You have some question, I assume." Urahara said as his eyes hardened at the thought of Aizen.

"Not really, I know the basics and I know he needs to be stopped. That's all I really care about." She said with a small shrug that did not manage to disguise all of her hatred and anger towards a man she hadn't even met.

Urahara understood her attempt to downplay her emotions. "Just make sure to not see his release. His power consists of complete hypnosis, he can make you see whatever he wishes you to and once he has you in his illusions you can never escape."

Karin's eyes widened at the tidbit, but nodded in gratitude to the warning. "Now how about we start this?" Urahara exclaimed as he clapped his hands and smiled. The next thing Karin heard was a sandal slapping against the blonde's face. With a smirk, she made her way to the basement.

* * *

That night as Karin lay in bed sore, hurt and tired to the bone, her mind drifted to something that Urahara had mentioned, something that had made her remember a half forgotten memory. The explanation of the squads of the Gotei 13 made her recall a white haired boy with a white haori which had the number ten kanji on its back.

That first night she fell asleep with a smile on her face, at the thought that Hitsugaya Toshiro was a Shinigami Captain. With the thought that she would see him once more.

* * *

_She remembered the night she had met him like if it had been yesterday. It had been a cold winter day and as the sun had set, the cold had turned from pleasant to bitingly cruel. She had been eight years old and in pain over the sudden loss of her mother, even if she had been dead for over three years. _

_In her refusal to let her family see her this way, she had left the house in the middle of the night and travelled to the park she had often visited with her mother. Once she had gotten there she watched the snow covered benches with distaste. Finding the one with the least amount of snow in it, she pushed the rest of the white powder off before taking a seat._

_The cold seeped into her bones despite the large amount of padding that she had worn to protect her from the wind. In her seat, she stared across the park listlessly, but no tears even came. She had promised herself she would not cry, that she would be strong for her family._

_She did not know how long she sat there, but she had long lost any feeling in her body and her breath came out in great clouds that in another moment would've made her laugh. The far off sound that awakened her from her trace sounded like shriek of pain. With a violent start, she jumped from the seat she had been using. The sound had chilled her far worse than the cold ever could. _

_She took a couple of steps away from where the sound had come, afraid even if silence was all she heard. Just as she turned to make her way back home, another screech emitted from the other side of the park. This time it was much closer. Within seconds a huge monster appeared from the darkness. The red eyes watched her from behind the white mask in hunger and a shiver passed over her spine._

_She remembered being frozen solid in terror as the beast lunched towards her in an aggressive way. Her eyes closed in fear and defeat. A roar of pain made her onyx eyes snap open and the sight that greeted her was that of a white haired boy using a large katana to cut the beast in half. _

_As it disintegrated, the boy sheathed his sword and took a step away in a clear intention of leaving. A small hand flashed forward and clutched his slightly larger hand. The soul reaper started and turned to stare into the warm grey eyes which belonged to a small girl._

"_What is your name?" The small girl asked him._

_His eyes widened in surprise as he answered. "Hitsugaya Toshiro."_

_She smiled in gratitude. "Thank you, Toshiro." She said before adding. "My name is Karin."_

_The boy nodded slightly before slipping out of her grasp and disappearing. After that incident she never saw him again._

_

* * *

Ta taaaa! The end of chapter five! Remember, reviews make authors happy :). _


	6. Chapter 6

_Chapter six is here =), sorry for taking so long to update I feel really bad for making you think that I wasn't posting because of reviews (which was not the reason why I hadn't posted by the way.). Thing is, I'm in my senior year and I had tests (9 subjects, NINE) so I had no time to pass my chapters from paper to laptop. _

_I'm sorry! Now on with the story, it's Ichigo time._

**Chapter Six **

A dimension away, in Soul Society, Ichigo had already managed to infiltrate the Soul Society with the help of a shinigami hating local that had found him after hearing the rumors of a shinigami staying in the Rukongai. The man of the Shiba Clan had claimed his hatred for all things shinigami, but once he had learned the reason for which Ichigo had come here in the first place, he had agreed to help them.

He had taken the group to his home, which turned out to actually be his sister's home, where he had taken the tedious classes to learn how to control his Reiatsu to a certain degree. After those, he had vowed to himself never to even attempt kido lessons. He had spent three days in intense concentration to be able to form the Cannon Ball made from Reiatsu and even after all that time, the best he could maintain it was just beyond the barrier that surrounded the white walls and made the whole process necessary for entry.

When he crashed into the prestigious city, the first thing he realized was that he was alone. He could not sense his friends, but it was nothing new seeing as he sucked at following a Reiatsu trail. No though over his safety came to mind even as the alarm bells rang across the deserted white hallway, his only worry was that of his friends.

That first day he spent within the walls of his enemies, he had managed to keep hidden. It had come as a surprise to him to know that no one had noticed his location yet, but he was not one to question his fortune.

Unfortunately, his luck didn't hold out to the next morning when a bald man found him while he was lost and attempting to find his way through the pale maze towards Rukia. His fight with Ikkaku made him realize how much at a disadvantage he was in this hostile environment. Without Inuoe, he had no way to heal himself. From then on, he exercised precaution.

There was nothing her could do to help anyone if he was dead after all.

* * *

Ichigo felt like laughing and he would've if he wasn't afraid of the choking hazard his blood currently represented. He was laying on the shattered ground where he had fought with the captain of the eleventh squad. The pink haired girl who was apparently his lieutenant had already carried the gigantic man in a display of pure strength to where he assumed was the hospital in this place.

Ichigo, despite what many thought, was not a fool. He knew that the fact that a healer had found him after his fight with Renji and been considerate enough to heal him was a fluke. He wouldn't find another person like Hanatarou.

Still, he felt disappointed in himself at his failure, he couldn't even stand to look for one of his friends, all he could do was lay there in silence with the knowledge that he was going to die soon, and if for some reason he did not someone would find him and he would be imprisoned.

The chances of one his friends finding him were lower than impossible. At that thought, Ichigo chuckled, the sound garbled and wet with blood. It had taken less than two weeks to fail his promise of rescue. He did not know what he had been thinking coming to this place where there were opponents far stronger than himself. Who did he think he was? He has only a fifteen year old kid.

That thought echoed across his mind before the memories of Rukia's smile came to mind. His thoughts made him realize that he would not regret dying, not like this. Even if he had failed him purpose, he would not regret coming to his death. It had been for a good reason after all.

Brown eyes were closing when a pair of feet came into his view. With a last effort, Ichigo made his gaze travel further up. A kind face with black eyes and dark hair greeted him, but before he could rationalize who she was his eyes closed and darkness drowned his awareness.

* * *

Cool hands were caressing his hair the first time his mind emerged from the clutches of unconsciousness. Those fingers and the equally cold drops that splattered over his face was what compelled his brown eyes to open.

He noticed he was lying on his back and that a ravaging pain was eating though his nerves. Above him, he could barely make out a figure with dark hair and unmistakable violet eyes. He felt his lips curve into a smile before his eyes cleared.

What he saw was indeed Rukia's face, but her violet eyes filled with tears that overflowed, making it impossible for this to be the woman he knew. Her face was filled with tears, yet the Rukia he knew was a strong woman, why would she be crying?

His hand twitched her way in a feeble attempt to wipe away her pained expression, but his strength failed him once more before his mind fell into the familiar void of unconsciousness, a confused frown fresh in his face.

* * *

The steady murmur of conversation was what woke him the second time, his body heady and lethargic as the dank cell he found himself in echoed with unintelligible words. He could feel the lack of Reiatsu deep within his bones and it gave his a feeling of nakedness that the pure white kimono did not help to ease. He had become so accustomed to the power coursing through his veins that he had forgotten what it meant to be a normal human.

Heaviness over his throat alerted him to the fact that he had a collar around his neck. His hand drifted towards the item to investigate it and giving it a sharp pull he realized that it was stronger than it seemed. Finding no way to remove the accessory, he sighed and sat up in the small cot.

Ignoring the faint nausea, he stood up and walked a few feet towards the bars that kept him away from his freedom. The small steps had him gasping in a combination of pain and weakness which made him lean against the wooden bars.

Ichigo was panting and attempting to keep in the urge to vomit when his eyes caught the sight of black near his left side. He turned and saw the Shinigami standing guard there, it was obvious to Ichigo by his stance that he was attempting to ignore his prisoner.

"Where am I?" Asked Ichigo, earning a glare filled with so much hatred and disgust that it took him aback.

"Do not speak to me, you monster. Soon enough you will be dead, I see no reason for you to waste your breath." Snarled the man before snapping his mouth shut with an audible clack. Ichigo could only stare at the man in bewilderment, last time he had checked, he had done nothing to deserve such treatment from a man he had never seen before.

It was true that he had invaded him home town and defeated one of the captains, but something to earn such venom he had not done. "Umm, what happened to me?" He asked quietly, not taking the hint to keep quiet.

The man turned towards him in a sharp movement. "After you somehow managed to defeat Zaraki-taicho, Unohana-taicho found and healed you so that you could be executed publically for you crimes. If it would've been me who found you, or anyone else for that matter, you would not be standing here." Gritted out the man in anger.

Finally taking the hint, Ichigo backed away and made his way towards the cot that he had been laying on when he had woken up. Silence prevailed for the next hours and the only disturbance of the peace was when the guard got changed for another. Normally, he would've been bored out of his mind by now, but his weak body didn't even allow him that.

His vision was blurry, his breath hadn't leveled, every sound was torture and his body was covered in cold sweat. It took a while for his clouded mind to finally realize that he was running a high fever. It didn't come as a surprise to him when he remembered the wounds that had been inflicted by the captain of the eleventh squad. The fact that he didn't have his Reiatsu to strengthen him made him too weak for his body to fight back.

The silence was broken deep into the night by heavy footsteps. The loud noise surprised him, these men were supposed to be trained warriors. His frown, whether of pain or confusion, deepened when his brown eyes opened.

A clang echoing across the room forced Ichigo to sit up. A group of four men were standing in the doorway, the dim light making them look more menacing than they actually were and Ichigo felt dread shiver down his spine when he saw their expressions.

From his place in the cot, Ichigo could smell the alcohol in their breaths. The dread multiplied at the simple fact when he realized that he had no way to defend himself, he was in no state to defend himself. Making his body stand by sheer willpower, he watched as they stumbled into the small cell with narrowed eyes. He recognized one of the men as the guard he had first spoken to when he had woken inside the room, but the fact gave him no comfort.

"You know, you look too young to be a murderer." Slurred one of the men as he pointed a finger in Ichigo's direction.

At the statement, Ichigo's blood boiled. "I have never killed anyone in my life!" he yelled, his strength failing for a second before he stood up straight once more. A fist slammed into his cheekbone at the declaration with no warning.

"You are right! You didn't kill Aizen-taicho, you butchered him." Another man accused as he punched the defenseless teen in the stomach.

Too weak to fight back, the red-head fell to the ground boneless. He was confused. Who was Aizen? Why did they think he killed him? He had no way to answer those questions, so he did the only thing he could at the moment, he warped his arms around his head.

The men continued to hit him without caution and he could feel several bruises forming, but the worst was when a kick slipped past his feeble defense and shattered his nose. The blood loss was not helping the nausea from the fever and he could feel the world spinning around him as another hit made it's was to his stomach, making him gag and breaking several ribs. Luckily, he had nothing in his stomach to throw up.

The pain was unbearable and he realized that without his spiritual energy he was weak and useless, the beating he was recieveing was proof of his inability to do something. '_**Then move over and let me show them the true meaning of pain.' **_A voice echoed within his mind, the crazed tone scaring the teen. A flash of a pale face with black sclera and yellow irises confused him, he was seeing a morbid copy of himself.

For the first time since he had woken up, he could feel his Reiatsu, but it was a tainted version of his own. In fear, he slammed the energy down. The feeling escaped along with the presence and as he focused on his surroundings he realized that the kicks and punches had stopped.

The four men were standing with theirs back to his fallen form like a kind of wall, but the gentle Reiatsu that had entered the scene called his attention. Through the cracks between the men he could spot small glances of the woman who had saved him, but he had no energy to attempt to gather more information on the woman.

"What is going on here?"Asked an older female voice, the viciously sharp edge of her tone barely hidden within the mothering voice. He could see a man's back trembling as he shifted his stance and gave Ichigo a clear image of the woman.

The first thing he noticed was that she was wearing a captain's cloak. The woman had her dark, thick hair braided underneath her chin and her cold, dark eyes were watching the men, but as he came into her line of sight her lips curled into a gentle smile that did nothing to settle the fear the men had. The dark, angry aura that made a background for her gave the smile a creepy edge.

"Is that my patient by any chance?" She asked kindly, tilting her head slightly to the side. At the last motion, the four Shinigami knew that they were screwed. The men stumbled over their words, the fear they had for the female captain almost making Ichigo smile.

"The same patient who was two days unconscious with a high fever and deep, gaping wound?" She added rhetorically, ignoring their words. After a few moments of silence, one of the men nodded. The woman hummed, the smile still in place. "I just remembered that the bedpans in the fourth squad need cleaning and you look like you have time in your hands."

The men stifle groans of complaint before bowing and preparing to leave the cell. "I also forgot to mention that seeing as Third Seat Madarame from the Eleventh squad is incapacitated along with the Captain of the same squad, paperwork needs to be done. You look able enough." She added as if finding the whole thing a perfect coincidence. The men shunpo'ed away before the woman could think of any more punishment for their actions.

T here of the men managed to escape, but the fourth one –the man who had served as a guard for Ichigo- was stopped by the Captains Reiatsu. "Now that I think about it, I need a helper here. Put him in the cot." The terrifying woman instructed. The guard, too afraid to refuse, picked the delirious shinigami up and placed him the cot.

"What it your name?" The captain asked her patient as the guard backed away from the bed and she kneeled before it.

"Kurosaki Ichigo." Mumbled the strawberry, the woman stifled her gasp of surprise at the surname, but she gave no indication of her knowledge.

"I am the Captain of the Fourth Division. My name is Unohana Retsu." Offered the healer as the guard watched the civil conversation between them. "The one who protects, I assume. Is that why you are here?" She asked softly as she finished the preparations of the healing kido.

Ichigo smiled past the pale green light of the kido, his brown eyes caught hers and the determined light in his eyes surprised her. "Rukia does not deserve to die for saving a human family the only way she could, she does not deserve to die for giving me the power to protect my younger sisters." He answered, leaving unspoken the fact that he would give his life for hers, but Unohana caught the sentiment without the need of the words.

"How old are you?" Interrogated Unohana.

"Fifteen." Whispered the boy in his last moments of lucidity, the dark eyes watched his sleeping form in pity. The guard could feel a hint of guilt wiggle its way into his heart, watching the red-head sleep he realized that he had just attacked a child.

The black eyes of the Captain snapped to him. "You are free to go." She told him, no hint of her typical warmness in her tone. He had already heard all she wanted him to; there was no need to keep him here any longer. The man nodded before taking his leave.

Unohana spent the whole night at his side, healing the boy to the best of her abilities. Even if she knew that he was to be executed the following week, she could not help but to hope for the impossible. When the sun shone through the small window, the woman left with sorrow weighing her heart down.

* * *

Ichigo's body was covered in wounds and ravaged by the violent fever that had him delirious for the remaining week of his life. During his sleep, he dreamt of Rukia. Amongst the strong images of the midget, the memory of her crying face came to mind like the strongest of pests.

He knew now that it had not been a figment of his imagination; in his moments of lucidity he heard voices around him. Through them, he learned that he was to be executed in three days time alongside the noble that had warmed his heart.

Even if it pained him, he was grateful that he would get to see her one last time. The crackling laughter in the background of his mind grew stronger. He shuddered before falling unconscious once more.

* * *

_Hope you enjoyed, I'll post the other chapter sometime this week and thank you for all the lovely reviews, they make me smile. Note about chapter 5: At the end, the scene where they met each other, I did it cuz i wanted them to know each other like in the episode 120(I think) of the anime, but i thought it would be strange to do the same scenario, and it didn't fit with her age._


	7. Chapter 7

_**Chapter 7 **_

_**The Raging Inferno**_

A young woman of long black hair and slender build parried a blow aimed toward her chest with a small flick of her wrist and without losing any momentum she responded to the attack with a stab of her own that was meant for her opponents' lower stomach.

Her short blade managed to rip the delicate cloth of his shirt, but before it could go further and draw blood, the man retreated with a surprised whistle. Taking a different route, the girl let go of the hilt, the long ribbon that was tied at the end of it caressed her palm seconds before her fingers closed. The dark haired beauty started spinning the short zanpakuto.

With a cocky smirk, she disappeared so fast that she left an afterimage of herself behind. Her opponent sharpened his senses, knowing that she would attack before long. He waited for the attack, but it never came. A feminine wail called his attention, making him turn towards where he knew his ally was. The sight that greeted him was that of blood coloring the dusty ground beneath their feet as a large cut appeared on her sword arm.

The snarl that seemed to be permanent on her face deepened when she couldn't catch sight of their enemy. She swung her head, hoping to catch sight of her even if she didn't have much hope for it, her blond ponytails waving in the air.

A giggle echoed behind him and with precision that surprised him, he cut the copy of the dark haired female in half. Sick with her stalling games, the blonde female called out the name of her sword.

"Sing, Benihime." The man echoed without another word. He could feel change in the atmosphere when his ally had finally stated that she was getting serious. He knew that she would release her own sword, which meant that he had little time in the fight.

As he had foreseen, the fogbank that he had come to dread were released, with them came the beautiful voice that belonged to the siren. Her song echoed across the underground training basement, but he could still feel his control solidly. The grey eyes narrowed in suspicion as he came to the realization that his opponent was not using the mist to control him, but as a cover for her movements.

This power made her a terrifying opponent. He couldn't see anything and her movements were fast enough to be hard to trace _without _the impairment. Keeping his eyes wide open, he threw a blood shield and waited for the brunette to make her move.

Before long, he heard the murmur of words seconds before a razor-thin horizontal line of water shattered his shield. The blood shield was not enough to stop the attack and Urahara Kisuke knew this fact well as he jumped out of the way.

Taking flight over fight, the proud ex-Captain of the twelfth ran. The fogbank was her territory, he knew he was at a disadvantage in their current position. Out of the corner of his eye, Urahara saw the small blade come his way. The blonde stopped and bracing himself, he allowed the blade to pierce his side and as it did, the mists surrounding him melted away.

The dark eyes that were set in a beautiful face widened in surprise as Benihime cut her from shoulder to hip. The teen grimaced in pain before kicking the man in the chin with her toes. "Bastard." Kurosaki Karin mumbled as she walked away from their battlefield and the fallen forms of her teachers.

Karin turned to glare at the blonde man once before sitting down before an older looking Hachi. The small shell that hung from a tiny braid amongst her black locks tinkled against nothing, the materialization of her Bankai showing the anger of the siren that inhibited the blade that was now sheathed against her back by an aqua colored obi.

Hiyori, in her seventeen year old appearance, sat next to her. Apparently she had tired of kicking Urahara's ass for not backing her up during the fight. The pool of blood the shop owner was laying on continued to expand even as Yoruichi and Mashiro came down from their afternoon nap.

The purple haired woman watched the scene dispassionately. "I'm assuming you got cocky again." She hummed as she saw the petulant expression on the younger of the girls. The narrowing of the hour and a half battle in one sentence angered Karin, but she kept her mouth shut and nodded.

It was still clear that she was upset with herself for relaying so much on her illusion even when it was clear that her abilities exceeded the need of them. Yoruichi sighed. "From now on I want you to focus on you other attacks, do not use the mist for anything other than escape or if there are too many opponents for you to handle." She lectured her apprentice and unofficial heir.

Karin sighed wanting to lash out and say she already knew that, but she bit her tongue and nodded once more. The older woman smiled mischievously as she broke the reproaching mood with just one sentence. "Now, let's go celebrate our last night in this prison." She yelled and made her way back upstairs, but not without jumping over the prone form of her lover on her way.

Urahara chose that moment to raise his head, pouting at the nobles' back before he stopped pretending to be hurt. Apparently his play-dead needed some polishing. Karin just rolled her eyes at the goofy shinigami before making her way upstairs.

Cold brown eyes watched the tall lance that was tied down in the deserted hill which overlooked the home of the Shinigami. Light glinted off his square glasses as he turned to greet his accomplice when he felt his presence near.

Ichimaru Gin was staring at the weird implements that he had been asked to retrieve. The long cables were saturated with multiple reiatsus' that told their history. That fact did not bother him as much as the tiny detail that he had just stolen them from the Shihonin Family, the noble family that was deeply immersed in the arts of assassination.

It had him sweating cold and glancing over his shoulder, even if he knew he had left nothing to incriminate him. Aizen smiled his true smile, the cold, manipulative one that he had hidden from all but the mirror and those he had murdered. The silver haired male suppressed a shiver as he felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise.

"Thank you, Gin." The brunette with a sever god-complex said simply without true sentiment as he made to grab the items. Gin passed it over with no words of complaint.

"We are going to unseal it. It has just come to my attention that I had miscalculated the power of this particular weapon. With the power of his zanpakuto, even the Hougyoku could be eradicated." He informed the silver haired fox.

Gin's head tilted to the side in confused agreement before his toothless and humorless grin took over his features. It was none of his business what Aizen intended to do, all he cared about was following his orders. How could he kill him if he questioned his every move after all?

As the cords wrapped around the lance, Aizen put the last nail on his own coffin without even realizing it was his he was building.

Meanwhile at the simple shop that just happened to be behind a time barrier, Yoruichi was smirking drunkenly in triumph at the fact that she had managed to get everyone wasted without too much effort. Even Urahara who had a paranoid tendency to never let his guard down, and the fact that she had succeeded in letting him loosen a little spoke of the great trust that he had for everyone in the room.

The three younger girls were gossiping in the corner about their crushes and it warmed the purple haired females' heart to see how close they had all become over the course of three years. If she thought back to three years ago, their personalities had changed as much as their outer shells and it gave her a great amount of satisfaction to know that she had influenced Karin the most.

To be fair they had all changed from the constant companionship, all the girls had changed little by little without realizing it. Mashiro, who despite being powerful, did not take into account all the variables in a fight and her exuberant behavior in all moments, had been toned down by Karin's perpetual seriousness, all sarcasm and temper tantrums aside.

Said brunette had also changed because of the green haired female. Her serious and ungirly behavior had adapted itself to Mashiro's, giving her the necessary instructing a young teen needed through puberty. She was more self-aware now, in a feminine way.

Hiyori's rampaging temper and foul mood had cooled down, giving her a more mellow personality. Sadly, whenever someone mentioned that she was likening Shinji her temper exploded and no matter who had mentioned the likeness, Urahara always ended up bloody.

The thoughts running through her mind made her pay closer attention to the conversation that was taking place between said teens.

"…No way! That grumpy midget!" Yelled the inebriated blonde in shocked surprise while Karin grumbled into her drink something along the lines that she could yell a little louder because the dead hadn't heard her. Her half lidded eyes were glaring at the blonde without remorse.

Mashiro decided that that was her queue with a small giggle. "We have something in common!" She exclaimed happily, taking note of their confused expressions she elaborated with a wide smile on her lips. "I like a grumpy, silver haired captain too!"

"Kensei?" Burst out the blonde vizard. "No way…"She repeated softly, as if in shock at the revelation.

Mashiro pouted cutely. "That's not fair, Shinji is far worse. He is lazy, perverted and crazy." She said in a soft, resented murmur.

"And he's kinna creepy." Karin added in a spaced out tone. Mashiro nodded, glad that she had a supporter.

Hiyori blushed a violent red before dramatically shushing both girls, effectively ending the conversation. Hachi watched the whole scene in exasperation while Yoruichi smiled at the blackmail material she had gathered. Urahara sat next to her staring into empty space.

Karin appeared to be zoned out, which usually meant she was having another argument with her inner hollow when her reiatsu lost control. Her eyelids fluttered wildly as her spiritual pressure became scorching hot. She gasped once before her eyes widened in pain, her grip on the glass long lost.

In a flash, her eyes flashed golden and the pressure became too great for the female vizards to handle. The second they flashed towards the other side of the room, the table caught fire along with the walls behind her.

With haste that bellied his great abilities, Hachi placed several barriers around the teen. The inferno within the kido licked the barrier, dissolving it faster than the eye could catch. Making a great effort, he placed more barriers. Urahara watched this with wide eyes, the power she was excluding made no sense to him.

Her usual presence was cool and calm, subtle and sensual, not this burning fire that seemed to warm his skin even if he was almost 20 yards away from her. The amount of it also had him puzzling over the sudden change, but before he could continue thinking he realized that he might as well help before he had no brain to think with.

Yoruichi, seeing his behavior, elbowed his in the side. Their eyes connected ad they both understood what each other meant. Her fire zanpakuto was manifesting. Hiyori escaped from Mashiro's grasp and slammed her hands against the barrier in panic.

"Karin!" She yelled in a vulnerable tone. She could not lose her closest friend, the dark haired brat she had grown to think of as her sister. The flames chose that exact moment to dissolve the barriers that both men were racing to place. Hiyori screamed in agony as she took a step backwards, the smell of burning flesh filled the room making Yoruichi's stomach lurch violently.

Mashiro grabbed the blonde and pulled her back as Hachi casted another barrier, a small apology over the wound he couldn't prevent fresh in his eyes. Urahara followed Hachi's lead and continued casting the spiritual walls, a bead of sweat rolling down his neck. The pink haired man spared a second to cast him a grateful glance, but they had no time for words.

All the people in the room waited in silence for the girl to emerge from the raging inferno.

Karin could feel the warmth surrounding her, like a blanket of fire if there was ever such a thing. It was choking her with the intensity, but before long her body became accustomed to it. She opened her eyes, already knowing what they would find.

As if confirming the fact, the beautiful inferno that she had longed to unlock for three years danced before her passionately. Even from her place amongst the flames, the happy melody that saw sung by the siren reached her ears.

She noticed with a start that the black feathers she had often dreamed of touching were caressing her body as they fell from the nonexistent sky like dark snow. She smiled happily before spinning around the flames, but she came to realize that as she moved, she did not dance amongst them; she danced with them in a show of pure beauty.

She was laughing gleefully when she felt the presence beside her and when she stopped it was to see the figure of a man that seemed familiar even if she was certain she had never seen the man before. The man had golden eyes that danced as merrily as she had seconds ago and hair as dark as the feathers falling to the ground, as dark as hers. He had an abstract beauty that only seemed to be amplified by the large red wings that expanded from his back.

Seeing him, she felt an unexplainable joy, almost as if she had found a part of herself that had been missing without her knowing about it. With a start, she realized that she _had _reunited with a missing part of her soul.

Before thinking about it she lunged at the spirit and hugged the tall male without shame. His arms wrapped around her waist, and she heard him laugh in relief at finally being free from Soul Societies cage.

Separating, Karin smiled at the man with warmth that was uncharacteristic. "I represent your raw power, your ability to feel emotions and your passion in all you do. May your fire never burn out." He said as he ripped a large feather from his wings. "My name is Kikoo, use me well."He finished with a gentle smile before tying the feather beside the silver shell on the braid that settled over her left shoulder.

As he finished his action, he burst into flame becoming a giant phoenix that was made entirely out of fire. Karin caressed the feather with a smile, she knew what it meant. He had just given her Bankai.

The second time she opened her eyes after learning the name of her sword all she could see was ash. She watched in horror as everything around her was falling into pieces, including the ash itself which mimicked the feathers from her world as they bowed to gravity.

The blackened floorboards creak and called her attention as Yoruichi threw precaution to the wind and ran towards the raven haired teen. When the purple haired female embraced her, Karin could feel the older woman's heart racing. Karin placed the slightly longer sword on the ground and hugged the woman.

"You are so stupid." Yelled Hiyori as she slammed her foot on the weakened ground before kneeling down and inspecting the sword.

Being the exact opposite of the wakashi, the sheath was pitch black with a red ribbon spiraling over the blade that attached to the guard. The hilt was a beautiful golden color with orange stripes crisscrossing it. The blade emitted warmth as it rested on her palms and it made her grateful that Hachi had healed her between slamming down barriers.

The pink haired male was sitting down, his chest rising erratically because of his exerted panting. Urahara merely looked unsettled by the large amount of energy that they had spent to contain the blaze, but in reality he felt his years heavily and his eyes showed it to any that looked.

Through all the commotion Karin continued to smile warmly, she was finally complete.

_**BOOM! New chapter =), sorry for taking so long, I'm a lazy ass. With her getting the second zanpakuto, she will be very 'loving' and caring, but not always obviously. It was just something to make the romance flow a little easier. (cuz I'm a lazy ass).**_

_**Thanks for all the reviews and all the support even if I'm a terrible person for not updating when I say I am! So things will start to move faster now, much faster, but I have no idea how to do the execution scene so if you have any suggestions it would be great, otherwise it might end up sucking, so I guess that's a warning lol. **_


	8. Chapter 8

_**Chapter**_** 8**

_**The Return.**_

In the early hours of the morning, a light could be seen shining through the darkness. The symmetrical building it was giving an opening to was none other than the tenth of the Shinigami Divisions and inside the hauntingly silent edifice a certain white haired captain continued his work. The dread filling his chest had him too unsettled to rest and given the absence of people, his brow furrowed. Expressing his troubled mind, his frown deepened at the sight of the dwindling stack of paperwork.

When the last form tingled under his fingertips, he knew he could not keep his thoughts distracted any longer. Remembering his last encounter with his childhood friend, he felt a wrenching stab of betrayal. Her desperate attack against him for the sake of her dead captain had left him numb for a long while, but when it broke the pain made him turn towards distraction. Now it was time to accept it.

Yet…the whole business with Ichimaru-taicho had his mind working overtime.

Was it really the ryoka who killed Aizen? Hitsugaya did not know what to believe anymore. He seemed to deflate as his breath left him in a great heaving sigh, dropping his head onto his hands and massaging his temples served as a futile attempt at dissipating his migraine.

It was at that moment that he felt the familiar reiatsu spike. Normally it wouldn't be something he would pay attention to, but when it belonged to the lieutenant of the fifth, the same person that was supposed to be in the hospital and under psych evaluation, it called his attention like a moth to flame.

Hoping against hope that he had somehow, miraculously, mistaken it, the Captain of the Tenth stood from his seat inside his empty office and took to the reiatsu like a bloodhound with a scent. Hinamori was not supposed to be roaming around when she portrayed a threat to Seiretei, she was especially NOT supposed to be trekking her way to the chambers of Central 46. The rays of a new day started to peak over the hill where the execution was to take place, a proud glint of metallic sheen could be seen from the distance as the sun marked the position of the Sokyoku.

* * *

The barrier around Urahara's shop had dropped a few hours after dawn, exactly two weeks after it had been placed. The giant man that had powered and maintained the constant energy for the spell to work dropped to his knees in exhaustion at the massive drain it had taken to keep it up.

Jinta and Ururu watched him in worry, but they had been warned this would happen. The children were waiting impatiently for the five people that had gone in two weeks ago to come back out, they refused to believe that they would come out looking physically older.

The redhead watched with a smirk on his face, as if at any moment the doors would open and he would prove the other vizards wrong, but when the door was pried open his attention sharpened into the delicate hand that he had caught a glimpse of. The face at appeared first was that of Urahara. He looked the same as he always did, the only exception was the well rested look he carried around him. The blonde's usual dark bags were all but gone. Jinta could see a peek of Yoruichi, but she too had changed little over the course of the three years.

The next person his eyes caught sight of was Hachigen, but again the only visible difference lay in his longer mustache. This proved nothing, if anything it proved him right and just as he was about to call them out as fools and liars the unrepeatable evidence came to light in the shape of Hiyori.

Her hair was still parted into two ponytails, but the ends now reached the middle of her thighs. Her snarl was gone, substituted with a bored expression which Jinta was sure he had seen somewhere else. But the biggest shock was that, at almost the same height as Yoruichi, her hips had widened considerably giving her a perfect pear shaped body.

Next was Mashiro, whose hair had also grown long, but apart from that she looked the same as well. Well into shock, Jinta could feel his cheeks blazing as the vizards parted to show the last person of the group.

Karin stood against the sun, her dark long hair waving with the small breeze that greeted their first breath of fresh air in years. Or at least she thought it was years. Was she technically 12 or did her age count as 15 now? Shaking her head in a amusing display of unconscious adorableness, Jinta noticed the white shell that lay nestled between her locks, a red feather resting against it.

Her body was slim, yet her figure was a perfect hourglass. Her chest had blossomed, not yet enough to match Yoruichi's, but despite her young age she was almost the same height as the dark skinned woman.

The unexpected and radical change made his jaw finally drop and as it did Karin's lips twisted into a relieved smile. Feeling real sunlight caress her face brought surreal emotions that threatened to choke her and her pale skin seemed to relish in the rays as she positively glowed.

Yoruichi, ever the blackmailed, slithered her way to the young redhead and poked him in the temple. He turned towards the cat lady and watched in mortification as she wiggled her purple eyebrows. "Quite the eye-catcher, wouldn't you say?" Jinta huffed before crossing his arms, knowing that denying it would get him nowhere fast yet at the same time never agreeing with her words. Her grin widened at the none response.

"We have company." Karin said as her left hand strayed closer to the zanpakutou that she was most accustomed to. Her dark eyes were focused on the building that usually hid the shop from prying eyes.

At her words, the intruders jumped down before them. The group if five was lead by a man with straight blonde hair and a slightly creepy smile that left Karin with the suspicion that he knew the fact and indeed enjoyed the reactions he received.

The mischievous grin vanished as the brown eyes came to rest on Hiyori's filled out form. "Hiyori?" He half asked in confused amazement before noting the light blush that danced across the freckled cheeks at the sound of his voice. His smile came back full force. "Meh, even with three more years of puberty you couldn't grow breasts." He teased before averting his eyes to the side.

He stood in silence, but when the blow didn't come, his wide eyes landed back on the other blonde. Her hand was resting over her hip as she leaned into it. The position made her wide hips and formed behind stand out.

Shinji wondered when his preferences changed to that of pear shaped women, but his brain left the thought for later as his eyes shamelessly roamed her body. His smirk growing by the second.

* * *

_**Yes...yes I did. I'm sorry for basically abandoning the story for so long and I know it sucks, but mostly I'm trying to continue this story as a challenge to myself. The thing is, I always start stories and write them out and everything, but then I lose my interest and just drop it. So I want to finish this one so I can at least say I completed one story in my life. **_

_**It actually took so long to update too for many reasons which also count as excuses, thing is I lost my work. I used to have every single story I have ever written since I was 12 in a book and I lost it. It was a terrible blow to my creativity and inspiration having lost everything I had ever written. Then came the second reason. My native country is costa rica, but a while back I moved to the states for college which is a HUGE change. Third reason lays in the fact that I was going through my SAT equivalent in my home country around the time I stopped posting for this story.**_

_**So there it is, I'll try with all I have to finish this and I'm so sorry for being an awful author! But for those who reviewed despite all that thank you so very much. **_


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